Wonderful. It's closed. All the shops are. And you know why? BECAUSE IT'S CHRISTMAS AND NO ONE WORKS ON CHRISTMAS! YOU'RE LATE! Everybody had bought their presents and you have nothing to give Hitsugaya. Well, excuse me, but I thought you actually cared for him after all this!
'Shut up, Haineko!' Matsumoto frowned, biting her lower lip 'I'm thinking.'
Well, think fast! You're running out of time! You do remember that at 8pm all the taichoes and fukutaichoes are going to gather to celebrate Christmas in that big-big hall, don't you? You know… When you guys are gonna eat and dance and exchange presents?
Matsumoto nervously ran a hand through her hair and turned around. Her gaze traced all the shops down the street with their oh-so-cheering signs 'CLOSED' hanging on the front doors. Her frown deepened and as she noticed that it was almost 7pm. She didn't have any time left – she had to go back.
With that, Rangiku spun around on her heel and started to make her way back, her eyes still desperately searching for a nice opened shop. Unfortunately, she had no luck at all… This, of course couldn't be any less surprising, considering all the potential buyers were already done with their purchases and were now sitting somewhere at home, having great time with their friends and families.
God, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? I can't just go to the party without a present for him. I have gifts for everybody else… He's going to think I am mad at him or… or don't like him… or that I don't care for him at all! Oh my god! I most certainly don't want him to think these things! I need to think of something… Something to give him that won't look stupid or cheap or… mine… But what?
Rangiku suddenly found herself only few meters away from the front door of her apartment. She had been so busy thinking of a solution of her gift-problem that she hadn't realized when she had gotten back. She shook her head to get back on the Earth (more like Soul Society) and glanced at her watch. She was running out of time.
Matsumoto frowned and started rummaging in her hand-bag for her keys. Just as every other woman, her hand-bag was a big store-house, full with every kind of stuff and finding something as small and rarely used as a bunch of keys was almost an adventure comparable to Columbus's sailing to find new land.
A minute or so later her fingers closed around the oh-so-needed keys and she abruptly and triumphantly pulled them out of the hand-bag. Proud with her success she pushed one of the keys into the keyhole and unlocked the door. She placed a hand on the doorknob and was just about to push the door open, when the sound of footsteps made her look away to find the source. A small figure in a long black evening dress was walking down the hall. The dress was looking wonderful on her slim body, contrasting with her pale skin and at the same time underlining her dark eyes. She was wearing a pair of long silver earrings with pearls that had the shape of a miniature cluster of grapes and a gorgeous stylish necklace. A little make-up here and there to emphasize her natural beauty and she looked like a princess.
'Hinamori…' Matsumoto managed to say looking at the girl with shock. Pumpkin actually looked good! No, not good. Wrong word. BEAUTIFUL!
'Matsumoto.' Momo coldly greeted, looking up and down her opponent while a small smirk appeared on her lips 'Not ready yet? You better hurry. Much work will be needed to make you look… acceptable.'
Matsumoto's confused expression was quickly replaced with an irritated one as she folded her arms and glared at Hinamori.
'And no matter how hard you try, my dear, you'll always look like a pumpkin!' Matsumoto hissed. The younger shinigami frowned, then held up her nose and walked pass Rangiku, looking like a pompous little pumpkin more than ever.
After she was sure Momo was gone, Matsumoto stormed into her apartment and started to prepare for the party as fast as she could. She took a quick shower, making sure to use the shower-gel that smelled like watermelon, then started feverishly to search for a nice evening dress. After a quite long studying of her closet, she finally managed to find something appropriate. Then she quickly put on some make-up, a pair of large round earrings and a stylish bracelet. Looking at herself in the mirror, she decided she was looking at least as well as Pumpkin. The dark purple dress with one strap and pink lace as a belt was perfect. She nodded to herself, then grabbed the bags with the presents and stormed out of the apartment.
It was pretty uncomfortable to walk around freezing cold yard wearing practically nothing (she wondered how Hinamori did it) but Matsumoto managed to reach her aim by sprinting as fast as she could with the bags with presents in her hands.
Christmas was one of those rare occasions when taichoes and fukutaichoes dressed like normal modern people from the real world. It was quite a sight: jeans, T-shirts, jackets, dresses, mini-skirts… Matsumoto liked to see her colleagues and friends looking less serious and without their boring formal clothes on… As she entered the warm hall, she couldn't help it but grin.
The hall was enormous. There was a large long table with what seemed to be dozens of different dishes in big silver plates and bowls on it, a fireplace nearby and a beautifully decorated Christmas tree next to it. The gifts could be seen in one of the angles, waiting to be given away (there wasn't enough place underneath the poor Christmas tree). All the casually dressed taichos and fukutaichoes were either chatting or on the dance floor and Matsumoto's eyes quickly started searching for a certain silver-haired boy.
Her eyes laid on a group of people near the table. Nanao was really hard to recognize with a blue skirt, a blue blouse and her hair hanging freely down pass her shoulders. And even harder to recognize her taicho with a sports wear – a sweatshirt and some trousers, trying to make her dance with him. Hitsugaya was with those two, a small smile on his face as he talked with Ukitake and from time to time sent them amused looks. He was wearing a pair of jeans, a back jacket, a black T-shirt and some trainers. And, of course, Hinamori, sauntering around him like a little snake…
Matsumoto gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.
Damn pumkin…
Momo burst into laugh at something Ukitake had said and walked behind Toushiro. Rangiku's eyes widened as Hinamori suddenly slipped her left hand around his left shoulder from behind him, resting her chin on his right shoulder. Hitsugaya immediately blushed and pulled forward a bit to look at her. Matsumoto couldn't hear what he was saying but by his raised eyebrow she could tell he was confused.
Hinamori then giggled and before he could react in any way, grabbed his hand and dragged him to the dance floor. Hitsugaya looked simply terrified and tried to pull away and head back to Ukitake and the two soon-to-be-a-couple Nanao and Kyorakubut he had no luck at all. Being the complaint attentive gentleman he always was with Momo, he quickly gave up and agreed to dance some slow song with her.
Slow song?…I should kill the one who plays music like this! Look how little people are danc-… Oh, my god! Nanao finally accepted to dance with Kyoraku…Is it just me, or is this world going crazy?
SCORE Matsumoto vs. Hinamori 1:3
Matsumoto rather angrily walked to Ukitake.
'Rangiku!' Ukitake exclaimed smiling warmly at her 'You look simply stunning tonight!'
'Thank you.' Matsumoto replied rather automatically, filling a glass of champagne for herself and turning around to gloomy stare at the dancing Hinamori and Hitsugaya. The older white-haired taicho next to her raised an eyebrow as he noticed what she was looking at and a small grin appeared on his face.
'He has no idea you two are fighting over him, you know…' Ukitake noticed. Without looking away from the two dancing youngsters, Matsumoto drained her glass and angrily slammed it on the table behind her.
'How do you know?'
'I tried explaining the situation to him… few dozen times…'
'You're exaggerating.'
'Ok, so maybe only about five times, but it's still a lot.'
'And how is that supposed to help me?'
'Dunno.' Ukitake shrugged and grinned at her, making her roll her eyes before once more concentrate on Hitsugaya and Hinamori. He was dancing well for an overly serious teen that spends most of his time in the office, doing paperwork… his and Matsumoto's paperwork, that is.
After a few more seconds the song was over and the two stopped moving. Hitsugaya nodded politely to his partner, let go of her and was about to walk away, but Hinamori suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. He immediately blushed, his eyes widening a bit from the closeness and his lips parting as if he wanted to speak, but couldn't think of anything sensible to say.
Matsumoto's eyes also widened as she realized what Momo was about to do. The dark-haired fukutaicho leaned forward, her lips centimeters away from his…
'TAICHO!!!!!!!!!' Rangiku shouted without thinking, making the two jump. Hitsugaya snapped back to reality and pulled away, looking rather embarrassed. Matsumoto hurried to trot to him and before he was able to react, she grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. Behind his back, Hinamori's eyes darkened as she glared at her opponent. In return Matsumoto just smirked, burying her nose in his soft snowy-white hair.
'They're going to kill him some day soon…' Ukitake murmured, shaking his head.
A few seconds later Toushiro was released.
'Hey… um…' Hitsugaya wrinkled his nose a bit 'You smell of… something sweet and familiar.'
Matsumoto smiled triumphantly:
'Make a guess.'
Hitsugaya didn't need much time. A couple f moments later a small smile appeared on his lips.
'Watermelon.'
'Correct!' she exclaimed, clapping her hands together.
Hitsugaya couldn't hold back a soft chuckle. He shook his head and walked pass her, making his way towards the table.
'Oh, and Matsumoto…' Hitsugaya stopped to look back at her 'Nice dress.'
SCORE Matsumoto vs. Hinamori 2:3
Matsumoto didn't realize when the time for exchanging presents came. Everybody gathered near the table and tossed up to decide who was going to give away presents after who. Terrified by the fact she still had n idea what to do with Hitsugaya, she decided to walk a bit behind the crowd and try to think of a solution, even though nothing sensible came to her mind. In what seemed to be a second or two Ukitake and Kirawere done with their presents and two good-looking boxes were handed to Matsumoto. She gulped as she realized that Hitsugaya was next.
'Oh my GOD!' Hinamori exclaimed after opening her present. She pulled out a beautiful bracelet from the box, earning a couple of gasps from the girls in the audience. 'This is beautiful! Thank you sooooo much!'
Hitsugaya nervously scratched the back of his head.
'I'm glad you liked it, I was really having a hard time deciding what to get you…'
Hinamori giggled and without warning gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, at the same time making Matsuoto's blood boil.
SCORE Matsumoto vs. Hinamori 2:4
He gave her a bracelet! A BRACELET! This is one hell of an expensive gift! You don't give stuff like this to just anyone! What did he get me, I wonder? A pot? A bottle of sake? A cup?
'Hey, Matsumoto!' Hitsugaya suddenly called, making her snap out of her angry thoughts. She blinked a couple of times, then realized she had to go to him to obtain her present.
'Coming, taicho.' she announced, making her way towards him.
'Well, you know, you were surprisingly easy to find a present for.' Hitsugaya had to admit thoughtfully, while looking for something in the inner pocket of his jacket. Matsumoto stared at him curiously as he pulled out a small fluffy object out of it. And just as when Hinamori pulled out her bracelet, a few gasps were heard, only this time more than before and louder.
'You almost smashed the poor thing with that hug you gave me, you know…' Hitsugaya murmured, placing a small tiger-like kitty with an orange ribbon around its neck on the floor. Matsumoto's eyes widened and she couldn't hold back an excited squeak. She covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself from screaming some more, then quickly bent down and lifted the kitty to her eye-level.
'It's adorable!' Matsumoto announced, taking a seat next to her taicho and putting the pet in her lap. Hitsugaya smiled at her warmly, which rather surprised her and opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off when someone shouted:
'Hey, Matsumoto, what about your gift? Come on, what did ya get him?'
A couple of other voices supported the first one, making Rangiku pale and Hitsugaya stare at her with a mix of worry and confusion. She gulped, feeling as if she was about to faint any minute now while staring into those gorgeous teal orbs of his… And then…
… she suddenly got that stupid idea…
Before she knew it she had leaned forward and had captured his lips in a kiss. She heard a long 'OOOOOOOOH!' coming from everybody around, then a few chuckles and snickers 'That's a present I'd like to receive, too!' before she finally let go of him. The next thing she knew she was staring into a pair of indignant teal eyes.
'Taicho?' Matsumoto carefully asked. Hitsugaya looked away, his eyebrows locked in a deep frown and before she had had any time to say something he had stormed out of the hall.
'Way the go, Matsumoto!' Hinamori snorted, folding her arms in front of her chest. Matsumoto glared at the younger girl, then stood up and handed the kitty to Ukitake.
'I'll be right back.' She said and stormed out of the hall and into the cold winter evening. Looking around from any signs she noticed fresh footprints in the snow. She didn't need to follow them for too long, Hitsugaya hadn't gone that far away. However it was still rather unpleasant experience to walk around the icy yard.
She found him leaning against a tree with his back facing her. Making a couple of uncertain steps towards him, she carefully called his name. Hitsugaya didn't move for awhile, then slowly turned around to face her.
'I'm younger, but that doesn't mean you can toy with me!' he snapped angrily, making Matsumoto jump a little.
'I didn't mean it that way!' she tried to defend herself but his eyes only hardened.
'And it what other way would you mean it?' he asked, folding his arms in front of his chest 'Why else would you… kiss… a brat like me? Why else, except of to make fun of me?'
'Make fun of you?' Matsumoto exclaimed blinking a few times with disbelieve.
'Well, yes!' Hitsugaya pushed away from the tree to walk to her 'Because that's what it looked like!'
'I would never do something like that! I would never, ever try making fun of you!' Matsumoto assured him, earning a raised eyebrow. She sighed and after a couple of seconds added a bit softer.
'Ok, so maybe I would. When I'm drunk. Or accidentally. But not like that! I would never intentionally hurt you!'
There was some silence, during which Hitsugaya just stared at her thoughtfully and she patiently waited for him to speak while freezing to death.
'Then… why did you do it?' he finally asked, looking at her with confusion. Matsumoto rolled her eyes with growing annoyance and impatience.
'Well, I don't know, you're the genius, you tell me!' she raised an eyebrow 'A person kisses another person when the first one likes the second one. Is it that hard to realize!'
Silence. Hitsugaya just stood there, his eyes widened and his expression nothing but pure disbelieve. Matsumoto, who couldn't stand the cold anymore, decided that if she couldn't convince him with words fast enough, she should act. She walked to him with determination that was worthy admiration, then leaned and kissed him. This time it wasn't a hasty shy kiss and this time… he actually kissed her back. Matsumoto couldn't help it but smile in the kiss as she felt a hand cup her face and he slid his tongue into her mouth.
That's my taicho!
After what seemed like eternity they parted, both panting slightly. Matsumoto grinned and before he could say anything pulled him into a suffocating hug. He didn't fight to get free as much as he usually did but reeled a bit when she released him.
'So, are we officially a couple?' she asked with childish eagerness.
'I guess so.' Hitsugaya agreed, nervously scratching the back of his neck. Matsumoto let out an excited and at the same time victorious squeak, jumping a bit in the air. Hitsugaya shook his head.
'Oh, and taicho… I mean, Toushiro…' she blushed 'I'm afraid I didn't get you anything for Christmas.'
Hitsugaya chuckled.
'You're my best Chritmas present, I don't need anything else.' He said, taking her hand and the two started to make their way back.
SCORE Matsumoto vs. Hinamori: 1000000000 : a negative quantity
Fin.
A/N: So, this is it guys! Done! It's finished! Hope you liked it!